RE: CD ScaleDesigns Albatros CI build
For you hardcore engineers out there. Here is proof that offset piston/crankshaft designs exist and have been seriously studied. For me all this adds up to a "yes" the cylinders on the Benz Bz III (as well as the earlier engine) probably were offset but the design was abandoned on later Benz engines (and also on the Mercedes engines). This really boils down to basic geometry of forces and this stuff would have been obvious to engine designers back in WWI.
One of the conclusions:
"The offset crankshaft engine decreases the side thrust force, when compared with the conventional engine but it has a smaller torque."